The Phillies and Braves tied with 12 hits apiece. But the Braves lost 4-1. This is mainly because:
1) They suck at hitting for power; all 12 hits were singles.
2) They suck at situational hitting; the Braves left seven men in scoring position and had 12 LOB overall.
3) The Braves suck.

The third inning is basically emblematic: Shelby Miller opened the inning with a single, followed by consecutive singles by Markakis and Maybin. Because it was the pitcher running, they all stayed station-to-station, so the bases were loaded. Then Freddie Freeman struck out and Adonis Garcia tapped out and got Miller thrown out at home. A.J. Pierzynski hit a grounder to deep short and Freddy Galvis made a great play to keep it on the infield so that only a single run scored. Then Chris Johnson lined out.

The run that scored on Pierzynski’s infield single was the Braves’ only run of the ballgame. Shelby didn’t really have it, but he’s allowed to have an off night. The offense didn’t have it, but for those guys, every night is an off night.

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59 comments on “Phillies 4, Braves 1”

Freeman was little help last night, left a bunch on. In Baltimore, after an electric first at bat, he seemed to spend the rest of the series hitting routine ground balls into the shift…OK i suppose but what is not OK is his then ambling towards first base which has become the norm, it’s embarrassing to watch…try, willya’.

In case you missed it, the ending of the Mets/Pads last night was extraordinary by any standards…starting in the top of the ninth with two out, none on, two runs down, a blinding rainstorm etc it ended about three hours later…

Yeah, I think we’re done other than maybe shopping AJ and CJ in August. I’m not entirely convinced AJ would make it through waivers. Everybody and their mother knows CJ would, and probably already has.

Just spent a few minutes reviewing the Heyward for Miller trade threads. Those were the good-old-days of hyperbole and outrage. Shelby has been really good this year, despite some of the predictions at the time. I hope the same is true for Olivera.

AJ Preller said he didn’t make any moves because he still thinks the Padres can make the playoffs. Translation: “We were asking for too much and now we have to make up something for the press conference.”

God bless that man. If the Braves make it back to contention it will be largely due to his generosity.

Listened to MLB Network Radio all day today (partly because the trade deadline is really exciting and partly because I’m pissed at ESPN Radio for letting Cowherd go to Fox). They talked a bunch about Kimbrel, and for such a dominant player, you can just clearly tell that he’s a luxury that the market is just not appreciating. I wasn’t surprised Chapman and Kimbrel weren’t dealt, but I am surprised they couldn’t move JUpton. However, that could be confirmation that we got a great deal on JUpton. If he flips an asset a half season after he acquires it, people are going to essentially expect the returns to be equal, and he probably wasn’t in the ballpark at all.

The Padres suffered from Kimbrel being dangled in the best reliever market I can remember, where a lot of very good options were available for a lot less. Upton had just had 2 atrocious months and his avg was under .250, though he looks to be starting his late season tirade with 3 HR in 4 games here.

For what it’s worth, rWAR loves the season he’s having — thinks his defense has been surprisingly positive, and thinks that he’s been roughly as effective offensively this year as he was last year. (The PETCO effect is strong.) Fangraphs disagrees, but there’s at least an argument to be made that Upton’s doing what he always does: runs hot and cold, but at the end of the day he puts up the numbers he always does.

This was by far one of the most exciting deadlines in recent memory. I wish the Braves could have moved Gomes, but he sucks. I’m glad we held onto Pierzynski considering he’s one of the few guys who can hit a baseball for our team, and I really don’t think we need a second half of Bethancourt getting 40-60% of the PAs. We gutted the bullpen the way I thought we would, and we were stuck with CJ, which is about what I expected.

This is what I hope happens in the second half:

-CJ gets the lion’s share of the time at 3B until Olivera is healthy. Either he sucks or he doesn’t, and we won’t know either way if he’s on the bench.
-The bulk of the relief innings are given to young players. It’s not our job to revive Aardsma, Frasor, and Detwiler’s careers. Give the high-leverage innings to McKirahan, Vizcaino, and any young players who come back from injury.
-Identify the 4 pitchers who will be in the rotation next year. I’m really hoping the Braves can land an ace on the FA market in the offseason (David Price…. schwing), so 4 out of Miller/Teheran/Perez/Wisler/Folty can establish themselves as effective, consistent starters. I have a feeling Teheran, unless he pitches 2013-level in the second half, is the odd man out (or if Perez comes back to earth).
-See with our own eyes that Hector Olivera can play.

With all of the money changing hands, the international signings, etc., does anyone know what our payroll is expected to be next year and how much is expected to be committed to players currently in the system? This has been the most financially confusing Braves season in my life, and I’d be feeling much better about the rebuild if I knew that the Braves actually had money to compete in even the second-tier of the free agent market.

I think CJ and Gomes will be tradeable in August, as they’ll both make it through waivers. Of course, neither is likely to be traded because the reason they’ll make it through waivers is the nobody wants them. I could maybe see us releasing CJ after Olivera gets here, but I’m guessing they’ll just hang onto Gomes until the end of the season if they can’t move him.

@19, some are speculating we’ll have 50 or 60 million to spend. I find that part of things pretty uninteresting (mostly because as I fan I shouldn’t be inundated by how much everyone involved makes), but it should make for some quick turnaround potential.

The problem with this team is that they aren’t just a couple players away. They need like 10.

@22-Why would we want to keep AJ just because he can hit a little? We’re not trying to win. We should be trying to lose as many games as possible and hoping we luck into an impact bat with a top five pick.

I hate tanking in sports where there is a notable difference between the No. 1 and No. 10 pick. Tanking in a sport where there really isn’t…no. I’d much rather try and win games the rest of the year, thank you. If you have to make a trade or something to make the future team better, then fine, but just dropping players for the sole purpose of losing is the kind of anti-competitive BS I can’t stand. We should not be trying to lose as many games as possible.

If you let Teheran eat innings the first few months and stick with the plan to provide an extra day of rest whenever possible, you're less likely to end up in a position where you may need to limit the younger arms down the stretch